Use of ‘Street Terrorism’ Law Against Gangs Upheld

SANTA ANA —  In a decision that reaffirms a new weapon for prosecutors in the fight against gangs, an appellate court has upheld the use of a recently enacted “street terrorism” law against a Santa Ana gang member convicted in a 1989 drive-by shooting.

In a 3-0 decision released Thursday, the 4th District Court of Appeal in Santa Ana found that the state Legislature’s 1988 passage of a law allowing stiffer sentences against known gang members “did not offend notions of due process.”

The Santa Ana court is one of the first appellate panels in the state to uphold all or parts of the California Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention Act, which authorizes additional sentences of up to three years for those found taking part in gang-like activities.

The ruling went beyond past decisions in expanding on the criteria needed to show that a suspect has engaged in gang activity, lawyers familiar with the case said. The appellate justices also noted that they intend it to be used as a guide by other judges in the state.

Writing for the court, Justice Henry T. Moore Jr. rejected the claim that the street terrorism laws infringe on First Amendment rights.

The act, Moore wrote, “regulates conduct, not speech or association, and there is no right of association to engage in criminal conduct.”

The ruling came in the case of gang member Rafael Gamez, convicted in April, 1990, of attempted murder and other felony charges in connection with a drive-by shooting that left one 16-year-old girl with a partially paralyzed right arm. She was shot in the back.

A jury found that Gamez, then 19, fired eight shots at a group of young girls. The shooting was apparently in retaliation for an earlier drive-by attack.

Gamez, the first person in Orange County to be convicted under the street terrorism law, was sentenced to more than 25 years in prison.

In its decision Thursday, the appeals court reduced the sentence by five to six years, finding that Gamez had, in effect, been unfairly penalized several times for the same gun-related offenses.